In the days before railroads, tourists in Boston
were informed about prospective arrivals and departures of stages and boats in a
special weekly publication called the Traveller (two l’s, not one). With the
advent of railroads, the business declined, and the Traveller became an evening
newspaper instead―which it has been ever since. The extra “l” in the name was
dropped about thirty years ago, when the Herald acquired control. But the old
form of the name is still to be seen on the Traveller building at 77 Summer
Street.

*

One fairly unpronounceable street name to
be found in Boston is Tchapitoulas St. in Hyde park, a blind road leading to the
Neponset River. There seems to be ground for suspicion that this is a
misspelling of a name taken from New Orleans, and which does not fail to amaze
tourists down there namely Tchoupitoulas Street. The suspicion is strengthened
by the name of the Hyde Park street from which Tchapitoulas starts―Poydras
St., which is a New Orleanish enough name to make anyone from down that way
homesick.

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The “cow-path" tale as told about Boston
Streets, was originally told of New York, in “Knickerbocker’s History of New
York,” where it was alleged that, the Dutch settlers being unable to find time
to plan their streets, the cows undertook “that patriotic duty.” The story was
transferred to Boston by Sam Walter Foss’ poem “The Calf Path.” * In justice, be it said that his charge that
people “lost a hundred years a day” is so far from true, that it would be nearer
truth to say “saved” instead of “lost.”

*

The State House dome may be “blacked out”
now―making it just another domed capitol
instead of the world’s foremost―but there is
still a golded dome dominating the metropolitan skyline. It is on the new
building of the New England Mutual, bestriking the old Indian weir around which
settlement here first started.

*

It might be interesting to note that there
have been a couple of changes made in street names down Mattapan way lately. The
name of Tokio Street was changed last winter to Topalian Street. And Brockton
Street was, not too long ago, called Bismarck Street. Which reminds us of the
temporary change of name, during the last was, of East Boston’s Hamburg and
Bremen Streets. The trouble was, that the new names broke up the series of
European ports for which the streets in that section were named. And so the
original names of the streets were restored.